An Attempt
by Madame President
Summary: Stein wants to fall in love, so he turns to a heartbroken Spirit for help. SteinxSpirit
1. A Request

Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater, if I did there would be yaoi. Lots and lots of yaoi.

Title: An Attempt

Author: Spider Wench

Rating: T, may be subject to change.

Pairing: SpiritxStein

Fandom: Soul Eater

Chapter One: A Request

The heat of the breezeless summer night was oppressive. A man with shoulder length red hair sipped from a glass of wine the color of the moon's drool. A bottle next to him read the words "Savia Viva" and the neon price sticker announced that it had cost him nine dollars.

The man sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, muttering the name "Maka" as he did so. The ceiling fan droned in lazy circles that escaped out the open window. The man was nearly finished with the bottle, slightly tipsy and on the verge of sleep. It had been a long day; the kind that made a person think, I'm thirty, what am I doing with my life. A day involving his ex wife calling to lecture him about not paying enough attention to their daughter and a scuffle in the school cafeteria that had turned into an all out food fight that had fallen upon him to control. And it was so hot.

A harsh knock at the door dislodged the man from his stupor.

Swearing about the indecency of the hour and tripping over both his own feet and an errant bag, the man stumbled to the door and yanked it open, preparing to give who ever had disturbed him an earful of his frustration.

"Why hello Spirit, fancy seeing you here," came the smooth, deep voice on the other side of the threshold. Spirit blinked a few times at his late night visitor as if unsure if he were real.

"It's one in the bloody morning stein, what the fuck do you want,"

"Well that was rather rude, how about a 'it's a pleasure to see you doctor stein, what can I help you with?'" Stein, a man with silver hair, oddly stitched clothes and limbs and a screw sticking through his head chided.

"It's a pleasure to see you Doctor Stein, what can I help you with?" spirit mocked.

"Why it's lovely to see you too Spirit, I was just dropping by to pay you visit," Stein smiled in what was obviously meant to be a kind, supportive way, but ended up being more than a bit creepy.

"Thanks" Spirit muttered, embarrassed by both his snapping and steins strangely compassionate act.

"I brought you cookies," said Stein hold up a box printed with a would be Italian name that emitted a decadent scent.

"Thank you," said Spirit warily. Years of experience had taught him to be careful about what he took from Stein, especially if it was intended to be ingested. But the look on the man's stitched face as he held the box, like a child searching for their parent's approval, made Spirit cave.

"Come in" he sighed, stepping away from the door and letting Stein into the moon lit apartment.

"Thank you," Stein said with a polite demi bow following spirit into the living room beyond.

Spirit fumbled with the wall searching for a light switch; and upon finding throwing the room into stinging orange relief.

Stein stood awkwardly in the cross filled living space, holding his cookies in front of his chest like an offering to placate an angry god.

"It's a bit late, you know," said the host, motioning for his guest to sit down.

"I know," said Stein, who remained standing.

" I had to collect the forty eight hour results on my soul pickling project,"

Spirit's face twisted in disgust, but he hid it before Stein had chance to register it.

"That sounds, um interesting?" Spirit ventured.

"Oh, yes, the wavelengths change to match the solution that they're in, but they retain the basic appearance. I'm hoping to use it in evil soul reedu…" with visible effort, Stein stopped his tirade on the benefits of soul pickling.

"But that's not why I'm here,"

Spirit was somewhat taken aback. Both by the fact that Stein had bothered to stop ranting and by idea that his twisted experiment could have been his reason for appearing.

"You seemed to be having a bad day, so I decided to drop by to cheer you up," he smiled again and Spirit felt his skin crawl as well as surprising fluttering sensation around his naval. Late night visits, although disturbing, were not surprising from a man like Stein, but the concept that they could be anything less than out right malevolent was blatantly shocking.

"Thanks that was very... considerate of you," Spirit chose his words carefully, determined not to offend.

"I'm glad to help," said Stein, visibly relived, and it struck spirit that it was quite possible that the delay had been more nerves than a desire to collect data.

"Would you like anything? Coffee, tea- booze?" Spirit inquired

"Coffee please," Stein finally moved to lean against the couch, the box of cookies held loosely by their red and white strings.

Spirit edged away into his tiny, yet serviceable kitchen and grabbed mugs and a pack labeled Nescafe. When he returned coffee in hand, Stein didn't seem to have moved, except to light a cigarette.

Spirit handed a star patterned mug to Stein and sat on the end of the couch opposite of that against which stein was leaning.

They remained like that, observing their mugs, but not drinking, each very much aware of the others presence and waiting, praying for the other to speak first.

"Your wife called," Stein stated

"I know,"

"She was angry about Maka,"

"I know,"

"She was probably was just angry at you,"

"I know,"

"I'm sorry,"

"I'm sorry too, I guess it just didn't work out," Spirit gave a suffering sort of sigh.

"You cheated on her with her friends. You never really wanted to make it work out," Stein accused shrewdly, his utter lack of social skills shining through.

"I did want to make it work!" Spirit's voice rose as he responded, the dropped again as he continued,

"For Maka's sake, anyway,"

"You cheated on me," Stein deadpanned.

"I was drunk,"

"You were drunk when you got Kami pregnant, but you weren't drunk the other times," Stein replied, sounding far less bitter than most would, yet still undeniably sour.

"So why are you here?" Spirit asked, bordering between shame and indignation.

"Because it's been fourteen years and I'm as over it as I'm getting. We spent a while apart and a realized that you're a lying, cheating sack of shit, but you're my lying cheating sack of shit."

"Well that's reassuring," Spirit looked out the window at the drooling moon.

"So why wait 'till now to tell me this?"

"Because now is the most suitable moment. You're miserable and lonely and likely to give me a chance,"

"Always so blunt," Spirit muttered, with a hint of a smirk.

"I missed you." Stein asserted with finality.

Spirit's eyes found a worn spot in the dark wood floor and responded.

"I know,"

"I want to fall in love with you." Spirit raised a brow.

"You do?"

"Yes." Stein seemed unsure but determined, a student relaying the answer to a particularly nasty equation.

"Tell me, honestly, have you ever loved any one?"

Stein answered almost immediately.

"No, but I want to try,"

Spirit chuckled, it had always struck him that Stein was incredibly naïve, for a sadist.

"Why not?"

Stein swiftly stood, dropping the cookies on the couch and walked over to Spirit, depositing his coffee on the lamp table as he went. Then he was leaning over Spirit kissing him as he hadn't been kissed in years, it was brutal, dangerous and exciting.

"Stop." Stein blinked, as though unsure.

"But, I thought you liked it?"

"I," Spirit paused; really it was like talking to a child at times.

"I did like it, but you… you said that you wanted to fall in love with me. That doesn't just happen. If we're going to do this, let's do this right, not fall into bed the way we did when we were kids,"

"Okay," Stein concurred.

"You should go home, Franken," Spirit said kindly. "I'll see you tomorrow at Shibusen,"

"Goodbye," and with that stein was gone

Spirit rolled his eyes to the ceiling; at least it would be interesting.

A/N: I just recently go into soul eater, and I was horrified by the utter lack of yaoi. I decided to take it upon my self to remedy that abysmal fact ,yself, by writing this fic. I do hope that you've enjoyed it so please review, it'l help the second chapter (which I have yet to write) come into existence faster (you could be an influence! And I always relpy to all of my reviews and faves!). thank you for reading.

-spider


	2. A Bribe

Disclaimer: I don't want to think about it.

Title: An Attempt

Author: Spider Wench

Rating: T, may be subject to change.

Pairing: SpiritxStein

Fandom: Soul Eater

Chapter two: A Bribe

The alarm clock blared to life when the red numbers on the face announced that it was 7:30 AM. Spirit rolled over and promptly slammed the snooze button and tried to get back to sleep. He failed miserably, the discomfort of the heat and his sweat dampened sheets over riding his reluctance to face the day.

Giving up, he peeled himself out of bed, and rubbing his stubble contemplatively, wandered into bathroom. A quarter of an hour or so later, he emerged with towels wrapped around his hips and hair, clean-shaven and ready to begin his day.

In full knowledge that none of the other teachers had any respect for the concept of business clothes, decided to forgo his regular suit and tie in favor of jeans and a tee shirt.

Ten minutes later he strolled out the door, coffee in hand. Ten minutes after that he was back in his apartment, panting. He grabbed his briefcase and ran back out the door, swearing all the way. As he went, he realized that he had spilled his coffee.

He had to be at work in twenty-five minutes at that point, he was coffee less and, thanks to his unscheduled trip home; was unable to buy a bagel on his way.

He missed the trolley and had to run to work instead. At eight thirty precisely, he arrived at Shibusen, but it took him a further five minutes to get to Shinigami's office, and thus he was late.

"Death Scythe, you're laaate~" Shinigami sang as the weapon ran in.

"I'm sorry, Lord Death" Spirit said, more an expulsion of air than words.

"M'kay~ just don't do it again," Shockingly benevolent for a God of Death.

'_How the fuck can anyone be so goddamn happy so early, when it's so hot?_' he thought.

The following hours were spent in excruciating swelter and boredom. No one called them. Nothing went wrong. Shinigami showed him some old, previously viewed, baby pictures of Death the Kid, but even Shinigami eventually grew weary of cooing over his ever adorable son.

Just as Spirit began to contemplate slamming his head into the boulder he was sitting on as relief from his misery, Shinigami spoke, this time without reference to adorable stripes, and the misfortune of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

"Death Scythe, I just thought that you should know that lunch starts in five minutes,"

Spirit fixed him with a blank look, prompting him to elaborate.  
"You have lunch duty again to day,"

"Goddamn it, why didn't anyone tell me?" he swore racing under the guillotines and out of Shinigami's office.

"I told you," Shinigami stated calmly watching Spirit's retreating back. He smiled under the mask. He knew he should lay off the man, but tormenting him was just so much fun.

Spirit was certain that he had some how offended the gods of punctuality, because he was exactly two minutes and thirty seven seconds late.

The head lunch lady was a bitter woman. Her parents had hated each other, her husband had left her for a younger prettier woman and she wasn't able to get a pet, or even houseplants to keep her company because of her allergies. She also hated waiting. Two minutes and thirty seven seconds was like an eternity to her (on an interesting and fairly tragic note, she would hang her self, four years, one month, eight days and thirteen hours later. She would die after dangling there for two minutes and thirty seven seconds. The janitor would miss her terribly). After scolding him embarrassingly in front of the students, she banished him to a corner to supervise the masses.

He went, grumbling all the way.

Maka didn't have sixth period lunch. So he stood, observing disinterestedly for several minutes. He began to walk over to scold a boy who had just been hit over the head with a textbook, by the logic that when boys were hit with large books, they had done something to deserve it, when he bumped into something solid and man shaped. It was Stein who was grinning down at him as disturbingly as ever.

"I heard that you have lunch duty," he stated.

"Yeah, I do," Spirit replied wondering the significance of this simple observation.

"I heard about what happened yesterday," He paused. "I wanted to take over for you so that you would let me take you on a date tonight," Spirit really did appreciate Steins straight forwardness, but at times it could be disconcerting.

"Okay," tested Spirit, "and what it I say no?'

"Then I will be rather disappointed and try again tomorrow," Spirit nodded. It seemed fair enough. Stein had obviously come a long way if he was asking for a date at all, much less being calm about the idea that he might be refused rather than threatening him with dissection.

"Fair enough, you'll take over, and you'll pick me up at six,"

Stein smiled and it was a shockingly pleasant thing.

"Okay," he hummed. With that, paying no mind to the fact that there were students all around them, he grabbed him, pressing their bodies together his arms coiling around Spirits shoulders. A hug. Dr. Stein was giving him a hug. There was something deeply alarming about the concept, but that was what made it endearing. Except that they were in the lunchroom.

"Franken, let go," he hissed.

Stein did as he was told, but looked impossibly dejected. It struck Spirit that this was the hardest that Franken had ever worked at anything other retaining his mental stability. But this was voluntary, not a necessity, not something he needed to survive. This was trial and error but, in an entirely new way, in unfamiliar territory. He wanted to get this right.

"Look, Franken, it's just that there's um, a time and um, a place for everything, and hugs and students don't really mix well you see, it's just thing and…" he trailed off.

"Oh, okay!"

'_Well,_' Spirit though with strange amusement, '_he always did love learning new things,'_

He left the lunchroom and Stein behind, trusting him to explain the situation to Ms. Amero.

Spirit grinned. Despite the heat and the punctuality god's vendetta against him, the day might not have been lost.

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A/N: Oh dear god I'm so sorry. I have a whole list of excuses and explanations as to why I haven't updated, but if I wrote them you would find out a good deal more about me, and my family than you want to know or I want to tell. That and it would take up several pages. However I still should have had time to write, but at the same time the whole writers block thing also kinda killed everything else. Anyway, I'm back. And it was one of the "please updates" that reminded me to do so, so keep sending them! I wrote this last night and chapter three is in the works so hopefully there won't be a six month wait in between posts.

Thanks for reading, please review,

Spider


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